Thoughts on prophet, priest, and king

In looking at the site meter I noticed that many readers find and click into my journal from Google searches for prophet, priest, and king. The concept is intriguing or intimidating, or both.

The thought that I need to learn how to be prophet, priest, and king in my home catches me off guard. The culture around us has tamed us into being “really nice guys.” In the entertainment media fathers are universally presented as clueless and irrelevant dopes. In the politically correct world patriarchy has been falsely reinterpreted to represent authoritarian abuse of women and children.

Also I think we have inherited from our first father the sin of passivity (or is it just plain laziness?) and have to work at being on top of things and leading our families in a godly way. We also have to struggle with selfishness and differentiation issues.

So how do we think of prophet, priest, and king in the modern context? I think you have to see the roles from the biblical intention, what God had in mind for each of these. Then I think you can make application.

The first prophets were seers, who had ecstatic experiences and spoke as the Holy Spirit gave utterance. Later they became messengers of God’s word to kings, interpreting Scripture. Prophets see and hear what God is saying and tell others so they can make good decisions. They use their wisdom and experience to “see” into the future and understand what will happen if we remain on a particular course. Prophets are eccentric and sometimes harsh in making a point.

Priest is advocate. Our best example of patriarch as priest is of course Job, who was concerned that his adult children might sin against God in their ongoing partying. So he offered sacrifices on their behalf continually. Sacrifice is the fundamental basis of worship, or approaching God. Under the Jewish order animal sacrifices were sufficient. In the church, only self-sacrifice, in the footsteps of Jesus, will do.

God meant for kings to be shepherds, or leaders of the flocks. Shepherds lead, groom, and provide healthcare for sheep so they will be profitable when presented at market. What goes into the development of sheep is intended to influence how profitable they will be later on. Shepherding people means discipling. Relationship. Pointing to a future direction.

See how these relate together? Prophet hears from God, while priest approaches God. King takes what has come from God and bestows into the lives of those in his charge.

It occurs to me that to do a good job as prophet, priest, and king, we need to be men of prayer. Which is a hard thing to do because our feminized world confuses prayer with long, wordy entreaties done just so. More than once I have heard the phrase, “I am not a praying man.”

So how can men pray? I’ll give that some thought and get back to you next week.

Love me tender, love me true

As I continue the series on they way of a man with a maid, recall that to this point I have written of what a godly man does to help his wife submit to him. Remember that when everything is working right, the man initiates and the woman follows. Man was created first, then the woman. Man was given mission and moral compass, and woman was created from his side to live by his side in pursuit of mission and moral. I believe the degree of submission a woman is able to freely attain is directly related to the effort a man puts into gaining her respect, earning her trust, and ensuring her security.

I’m wondering if all the effort I put into earning my wife’s submission is part of the command for me to love my wife. Paul admonished Ephesian husbands to love their wives “as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her” (Eph. 5:25).

Love is universally misunderstood. Despite what our culture tells you, love has little to do with warm fuzzies and sentimental notions brought on by a rush of hormones. Although feelings are great, genuine love remains long after the euphoria of romance fades. To love is to remain unconditionally committed to someone. It is a covenantal relationship. In marriage it is a patriarchal relationship. It is a relationship in which a man is heavily invested in the care and protection of his wife and all who are under his authority.

Love your wife as Christ loved the church. Jesus invested his earthly ministry in a few men and gave them authority and power to continue the work. Then he went to the cross to complete the sacrificial system, pay the sin debt of humanity, and then pave the way for the beginning of the church. This suggests that a husband’s love is sacrificial in that he puts aside his own interests to tend the greater needs of his wife and family.

So exactly how is it that a man should love his wife? Let’s look to the text of Ephesians chapter 5 for some clues . . .

Teach. A husband teaches his wife, indicating a need to be the spiritual leader and teacher of the household. Remember prophet, priest, and king? Too many times, due to the man’s inaction and passivity, the wife becomes spiritually advanced and then is tempted to take spiritual matters into her own hands. When this happens she openly disrespects her husband and does not fully submit to him. But this usually has something to do with the fact that the man’s love failed because he did not keep ahead. He was too proccupied with other things. I am convinced a husband needs to study the Scriptures and be versed in the various points of view in order to be conversant on spiritual matters and to be able to answer the questions of wife and children. How could you become the teacher of your household?

Cherish. The Greek word in the text comes from a root which means to warm or to heat, indicating the warmth of genuine affection. While you need sex, your wife needs affection and warmth. She is more willing to respond sexually (submit) when her needs for affection are met. I believe you meet those through respectful manners, kind words and deeds, and expressions of love and devotion that touch her heart. Give attention to the romance of the relationship. I note that a young suitor often expresses love in romantic ways to win his girl’s affection, but often forgets to do that after the wedding. Love your wife by continuing the romance, wooing her over and over again.

Sanctify. To sanctify means to set apart. You sanctify your wife be making her feel special, your one-and-only. Your wife needs to feel you are particularly devoted to her, that she is the most cherished and beautiful person to you in the world. She needs to feel that your expressions of love (verbal and physical) are genuine and directed to her.

The important thing to remember about the way of a man with a maid is that it is a relationship cycle or system, where the efforts of one affect the efforts of the other. Remember the principle: man initiates, woman responds. The way of a man with a maid is that a godly man pursues a woman he believes he can love with his whole heart for the rest of his life, and he declares his love and devotion to her. If she is convinced he truly loves her and is devoted to caring for her, she responds and submits through respect, trust, and feeling secure. This is an emotional response.

Through the years of marriage the cycle should tighten as the man continually demonstrates his love for her. She deepens her respect, trust, and sense of security and well-being. It should only get better.

Next week: Thoughts of love and sex in the marriage relationship. Warning, this one will be for mature audiences only, so be advised.

Seasons of life

I went with three of my daughters to the Rebelution Do Hard Things conference a few weeks ago. Rebelution is the project of twins Alex and Brett Harris (age 20) who as teenagers published the book Do Hard Things to encourage their peers to not accept the low expectations the culture places on youth, and to aspire to significant accomplishment as youth.

At the conference I ran into their dad, Gregg Harris, an old friend and pioneer in the home school movement. Gregg now heads the Noble Institute for Leadership Development and is teaching elder of Household of Faith Community Church in Portland, Ore. We talked about changes in our lives and how we both seemed to be moving into new things. Gregg said, “We are moving into a different season of life.” When he said that my mind went back ten years, to a time I had heard Gregg speak on the seasons of life.

I have reflected often on the concept of the seasons of life. I have felt the uneasiness of transition from one to another. I am coming to realize that when we move from one to the other another time of separation and inner alignment is called for so that we can successfully make the transition with minimal anxiety. It seems the masculine way requires continual separation and reflection, connecting in new fully defined ways. We are never quite “there.”

Gregg speaks of four seasons of life I’d like to mention, with my own reflections. To me they speak of the development of patriarchy and maturity in our lives as we continue on the path of becoming more like Christ.

Preparation. From childhood until the time we marry and begin having children we live in a period of preparation, where first responsibility is being student. We are learning all we can to prepare for life. We begin to venture out into the world and attempt to find our place. We begin to learn who we are as an individual.

I am convinced the best transition point out of preparation and into the next season needs a defining moment, a coming of age trial and ritual. Here is where our first separation should occur, where we go away from family and familiar way of life to find our identity and calling before God, where we define who we will be and how we will relate. Confession: I did not get to have such a period, and I am now convinced it severely slowed my progress. This is critical to moving into adulthood. I am equally convinced we have many immature adult men because they also did not have this kind of transition.

Production. The next season begins when we transition into adult life. We take a wife, establish a household, begin having children. We learn responsibility and we learn how to become productive. The main emphasis at this time is household and community. We become the patriarch by living out prophet, priest, and king as we raise our children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

The transition is when our children grow up and marry, and begin having children. We realize everything changes and we take on new roles as advisors. We become grandparents. It is hard for me to believe I will be a grandpaw in December! Transitioning out of this phase can bring about what we call “midlife crisis.” We begin to realize we are aging and that many of the goals we set in our youth will not be accomplished. Any errors we made with our children will become obvious and painful.

Provision. Having built our household and earning potential we move into a time of greater wealth production. Children are growing up and we can begin getting involved in other pursuits. If we have been maturing, we can put our accumulated wisdom to work in community efforts. This is the time when we earn eldership, where people begin to look to us for counsel. A young man approached me not long ago for counsel on particular matters. He said he wanted the wisdom of an “older man.” It is good to become active in church eldership at this time, because this is when we have the practical wisdom to contribute value to leadership conversations and decisions.

The transition from here is when we anticipate retirement. We become aware something has changed. Our energy may not be where it was, or we simply want to go in a new direction. Here another masculine separation is necessary to gain a perspective of how to relate in a new season.

Protection. The last season of life is what Gregg Harris calls protection. He refers to this as the time when we can lend the strength of our experience and wisdom to the community around us in government policy that protects us from harm. I think history shows our country’s best statesmen have been those in their 60s and 70s.

Our culture wants to devalue the contribution of those with experience. It wants to appeal to a younger generation unfortunately lacking in experience and wisdom, and totally consumed with self gratification. Our societal problems will stem from this significant error.

Lived out faithfully and with integrity, these four seasons of life are the stuff of patriarchy. Learn about the seasons, do all you can to live into the season you are in now, and when it is time to prepare for the next, separate enough to discover how to transition well.

Patriarch as prophet

Webster defined a prophet as “an interpreter; one that explains or communicates sentiments.” He also described a prophet as “a person illuminated, inspired, or instructed by God to announce future events.”

In the Hebrew Scriptures we can observe that prophets were people God chose to carry his message, and thus were endowed by the Holy Spirit, that is, God moving on the face of the earth, to carry out God’s special purpose. Prophetic utterance and the presence of the Holy Spirit were always somehow connected.

So what does this have to do with patriarchy? In my last journal entry I noted that patriarchs are anointed and appointed to serve in the pattern of prophet, priest, and king in their respective homes. That is how dominion is properly exercised and our masculine energies are properly focused. In terms of prophecy we understand that God expects us to teach his law to our children. In fact, in the Hebrew language the words law and parent are related. Law was to be transmitted from one generation to the next by parents.

Genesis chapter 18 gives us an interesting parallel. Three visitors come to Abraham to announce that his elderly wife Sarah will give birth in old age. They then look off in the distance to Sodom and the Lord asks if he should not tell Abraham what he is about to do, since he is becoming the father of a great nation. He justifies letting Abraham in on his plans by reasoning, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Gen. 18:19). Patriarchy, prophecy, and law all come together.

The fundamental basis for patriarch as prophet is in Deuteronomy chapter 6. God commands the Israelites to remember and keep his law when they pass into the promised land. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut.6:4, 5). This “statement of faith” (called the schema) is recited by every observant Hebrew man every day. Then God ties it into patriarchal responsibility:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut. 6:6-9).

These words were given as Moses called an assembly of men, fathers, patriarchs, to receive the instruction of the Lord for a future in a promised land. They were to love God with all they had, and do their best to teach their children to do the same.

Teach them diligently is an interesting word thought in Hebrew. It means to sharpen, or impress deeply. Men were to deeply impress God’s commands into the hearts of their children.

The same word used to describe the process of sharpening arrows, and the parallel to Psalm 127:3-5 is unmistakable:

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.

Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

By our prophetic input our children are sharpened and readied to be sent off into a future for which they are prepared because of our faithfulness.

Notice the instruction is done by fathers when you sit in your house. In Jewish thought the home is the sanctuary of the Lord, and the kitchen table is its altar. It was given, understood, and expected, that this kind of instruction would be done at home, and while the family goes about its business. There is no other way to explain this, and we have no excuse for explaining it away or excusing ourselves from its obvious application.

Look at these other Scriptures tying fatherhood to biblical instruction: Ex. 12:26, 27; Ex. 13:8; Ps. 34:11; 1 Thess. 2:11; and Eph. 6:4. The Proverbs are full of instructions from father to son, and as a representative sample see Proverbs chapter 4.

The biblical testimony is strong. We have no excuse for not training our children, for not being the prophet of our home.

OK, so how do we go about it? Here are some suggestions:

Discipleship. This is the time honored way established by Scripture. Children learn by watching, doing, working closely with Dad. Jesus used the method with his disciples, but it was not new to him.

Direct influence. We can use our place as father and the credibility we gain from our own personal righteousness to deeply influence our children.

Exhortation. Reading and teaching from the Scriptures. Keeps us up-to-date and on our toes if we have the responsibility of teaching our children.

Prophet of the home, this is not the Sunday school teacher’s job. It is your job, and you will stand before God and account for how you filled the role of prophet in your home.

Prophet, priest, and king

We have noted before that patriarch means “rule of the father,” and that ruling in biblical thought actually means guidance by teaching, praying, and leading. We discipline and direct our masculine strength into these areas on behalf of our families. It is a sacred trust, not to be abused, overlooked, or abandoned. There can be no such thing as a lazy, passive, or disobedient patriarch. We live into the role of patriarch by intentional diligence, initiative, and obedience.

Let me observe that if we have the responsibility to do these things then we have an anointing to do these things. That is, we are set apart (separated in the masculine sense), sanctified, directed, and empowered into these functions. Could it be that the much-needed separation from family of origin (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5; Mk. 10:7, 8; Eph. 5:31), and spending time apart from them to discover our identity and direction for life, somehow is the place where God imparts this anointing on us before we are joined to a wife? Could it be that we need to have these roles and boundaries clearly defined before we are married? Could it be that separation and solitude are necessary to eliminate the distraction and confusion of unbroken ties (i.e., “apron strings”) when new vision is being set?

I know that Jesus received his anointing at his baptism and immediately went to the wilderness, alone, for 40 days and nights, “to be tempted by the devil.” From there he returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus then functioned in three roles: prophet, priest, and king. First he was the prophet to Galilee, sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then he was priest, going to Jerusalem to become the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” and the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of humanity. He continues to be our priest, sitting at God’s right hand, interceding for us. At his resurrection and ascension he became the king of all, and now expands the kingdom of God through the agency of the Church.

Of course the precedent for the anointing for the roles of prophet, priest, and king comes from the Hebrew Scriptures. When a man entered any of these offices a public pronouncement was made. A man in recognized authority poured consecrated oil over head of the man being set apart, and he was said to be “anointed.” Many times these men spent time in solitude, in the wilderness, alone, to hear from God and discover identity, vision, and direction for his role.

I am convinced that the patriarch is a man who is truly set apart and anointed by God for the task of patriarchy. We have the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives to give us grace to carry out this calling and responsibility. Grace is the supernatural strength of God which rests in and upon us to amplify our own strength to accomplish his purposes. Because of God’s grace we can say with Paul, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9, 10). That is what salvation truly is, not “going to heaven when I die.”

And that grace is given to us to enable us to be like Christ, to sacrificially live and give as prophet, priest, and king of our homes. That is, we are given responsibility and grace to teach our families by precept and example. We cannot pawn that off on the Sunday school teacher or youth group leader. We have a duty to function as priest, to intercede on behalf of our families, and to take personal responsibility before God for their failures. We are expected to lead our families with vision, direction, and setting boundaries; to protect them from harm; and to provide for them.

These are non-optional for the patriarch. If we do not actively, intentionally, and aggressively do these things we are not patriarchal, we are merely taking advantage of our women and irresponsibly siring children to be sent aimlessly into a dangerous world to find their own way. This is reprehensible in the sight of God.

My next few posts will explore the roles of prophet, priest, and king respectively, and hopefully help us discover guidance for living into them as patriarchs.

The roles of prophet, priest, and king are depicted in this stained-glass window in the chapel of Wadham College (Oxford, England). The prophet is depicted by Moses (center), the priest is illustrated by Aaron (right), and the king is portrayed on the left. Click on the image for a closer look.